Everyone needs saving
by denebtenoh
Summary: When Lightning finds her alter ego, the worst mistake she can make is let her guard down. She did it, and had to bear with the consequences. In her last moments, her numbed mind thinks of a specific someone to save her, but not without a prize.
1. Primal mistake

EVERYONE NEEDS SAVING.

Lightning feels so weak, she is barely able to stand on her feet, so weak that sometimes she even has to lean over the ancient stonewalls of the Temple of Etro to prevent her fall, as black blood oozes from the magical wound Caius had inflicted on her.

She doesn´t know how it could´ve happened, nor how could´ve she let her guard down in such a stupid way, but what had made the matters worse, was that she had diminished the problem. In her mind, she still wants to justify herself with the fact that, after the blow, the pain had receded quite fast, and though she had definitely felt the depletion of her stamina, it had been barely perceptible, so she had dismissed the event as a non-immediate threat, and rushed to meet her eternal foe.

It had been mistake after mistake.

After several minutes running all around over the intricate maze the ruins became, fighting monsters and having her mind confused by the many Yeuls, she realizes too late the true implications of the curse: she can see them now, trails of black blood left behind in every step she takes, small fragments of her strength and her own life taking color and texture.

And now, standing face to face with her sworn enemy, she regrets her naivety and her foolishness. Caius hadn´t wasted the opportunity to kill her in a single blow: he always wanted to see her like this, coming to him debilitated, at his mercy, almost on her knees, so he could laugh at her before striking the fatal blow. But she wouldn´t have any of that.

"Right…"

By sheer will, Lightning straightens her posture, her stand that of pride and power, before meeting Caius´s threat.

"I will save your soul… even if it´s against your will."

Caius only smirks at her and raises his immense blade, attacking with all his strength.

She redirects the killing blow with her sword, all too weakened to counterattack, and Caius retaliates with a strike that clashes with her blade, producing sparkles for the friction, and sending her reeling backwards. Blow after blow, she sees herself being forced to take defensive strategies, as dark blood makes intricate patterns in the floor beneath them. Blow after blow, she also notices how her body begins to give up on her. Sweat forms on her forehead, and she feels her muscles protesting, refusing to act as she forces them to, as fast as she needs them to.

Caius smirks, knowingly. With a swift movement, he breaks her guard open with another strike, immediately redirecting the blade´s trajectory for the fatal blow. Lightning notices the intent, but her muscles this time completely abdicate on her, and she comes too late to stop the attack, as Caius´s massive sword strikes her chest full force, tearing apart her front black armor, breaking her savior insignia, and opening a deep cut right on her cleavage, fracturing her sternum and clavicle. Lightning staggers backwards, pain clouding her vision for a moment, utter disbelief plastered on her countenance, as bright red blood pours from the wound, mixing with the black one coming from her left breast, just over her heart, and tainting with crimson and black, the beautiful white cloth of her Providence garb.

Still stunned, Lightning looks up, azure orbs wide open, just to receive a direct kick on the jaw that sends her crashing against the wall, and she falls on her knees, one hand gripping her blade hard, the other embedding her fingernails on the floor, as the ancient rocks beneath her are bathed with her blood, the bright crimson and the darkened one. She breathes in and out repeatedly, trying to focus her sight and to recover her strength, but she knows it´s a lost cause, as she feels cold tremors running down her spine, and her sight blackens for a split second.

A pair of large boots approach her, but she refuses to look up. She wouldn´t have the strength to see the smirk on her enemy´s face, even though she perceives his movement, the moment he raises the blade to deliver the killing blow. This is the second time he takes advantage of her in such a dirty way… or could she call it dirty, really? He took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. Advantage of the mistakes _she _had made. It´s war after all, isn´t he supposed to do that?

_Serah…_

She can hear the wind whistling the moment he lowers his blade, straight to her neck, and she grasps the emblem over her chest, the broken, parted in half emblem that had represented her power.

But she´s _the Lightning_. _The Savior!_ How could she die?! Serah depends on her! The world depends on her!

_I can´t die here! I won´t die here! I´ve gotta see Serah!_

As if responding to her words, she´s suddenly surrounded by a blinding light, that immediately turns a deep foggy black, and the Chaos envelops her whole, entering her lungs and obstructing her sight, and she feels herself floating for a few seconds, only to fall on her knees over a soft, hot ground that hurts her palms and her knees, the air so warm it almost burns her lungs. With her free hand, she clutches her chest and feels the impossible pain still ripping her off. The fatal wound is still there, and unless she does something, she´ll die. Lightning looks up, but the intensity of the sunrays reflects everywhere she turns, blinding her, refusing her any possibility of orientation.

_I-I´ve gotta…_

She doesn´t finish the thought, her mind going numb, but her determination lingers, and so she clutches her blade tighter and grits her teeth, as she gathers all her will to force her body to stand, helping herself up with the other hand clutching her knee. Laboriously, the effort coming as a titanic accomplishment, she manages to stand upright on both legs, only to fall head first onto the warm sand, already unconscious, her mixed blood intertwining with the warm sand and forming a muddy pool underneath her, as her last thought goes to her sister´s memory.

_Serah… I´m going to see you soon…_

ooooOOOOOOXIIIOOOOOooooo

Fang has to accept she´s somewhat stalling her moment of departure. She´s not sure why, since she already knows there´s an urgent need of being in Luxerion to prevent any single ritual to happen. Though she´s well aware they won´t be doing anything until the appointed day, she has to collect everything and everyone she might need in order to succeed. But for the love of Etro, she cannot allow herself to leave this walls, where she had find the most sense of peace she´s had in decades.

"Boss! Boss!"

It´s Adonis who rushes inside, interrupting her train of thoughts.

"What is it, man? Do you really have to barge in without previous warning? What if I´m all naked?"

Against his will, the man blushes at the image her words have put on his brain, but shakes his head to focus.

"S-sorry boss, but I think you should come. It´s the Savior, we had words from the outpost that she´s come to the Dead Dunes."

The warrior turns around, trying to hide the smile that plays on her lips, and feigning nonchalance.

"So what? Let her come, I´m not all that happy with her. The only thing I´ll do is demand an explanation for her behavior. It was her doing that I lost the Clavis." Fang sits on her chair, all angry and flustered.

"I really think you should come, boss. They say she´s injured, and that it´s serious."

"What?" All her anger forgotten, Fang immediately rises from her spot, rushing towards the door. "Why didn´t you say so in the first place?" She passes by the man, pushing him aside on her rush. As they arrive at the lounge, Fang immediately recognizes the white garb and pink locks, but the moment her eyes take the whole picture, her face contorts in a mask of worry. Lightning is unconscious, her limp body tenderly resting on Bigg´s arms, one of the thieves she had met in Yuusnan, who, uncharacteristic of his hard and rough mannerism, is carrying her with too much care, as if she were made of crystal and he were scared of breaking her. Fang´s eyes meet with the man´s, and she can see how utterly terrified and sad he seems, a haunted expression plastered on his face, and the woman can´t do nothing but sympathize.

"Boss… she´s…"

Fang only nods, but can´t believe what she´s seeing as she approaches. With her head resting on the thief´s shoulder, Lightning´s eyes are closed tightly, her countenance that of deep pain, and her once white and pristine garb is tainted with blood all over, red and black covering most of her clothes, contrasting with the deep paleness of her already pale skin.

"Bring her to my room. And send for the sorcerer. We´ll need all the help we can get."

As the thief does her bidding, Fang lingers, interested in the pool of blood the woman had left behind. There, she can see the distinct texture, the mixing of bloods, and she can sense too something dark emanating from it.

_I might not be a savior, or a priestess for that matter, but I´ll be damned if this is not done by Chaos. _She clenches her teeth in worry._ Helping Lightning is gonna be harder than I thought._

As she arrives at her dormitory, Fang finds it hard to enter, since the door is already crowded with many thieves, trying to get a look at the dying Savior.

"Off with your curiosity! Only females are allowed here!"

Many male thieves moan, but immediately comply, their obedience coming partly out of respect, partly out of fear, and Fang is finally able to make it inside. Lightning is already resting on her humble bed, blood still coming out of her injuries. Fang frowns, and without further ado, she rips off the clothes and unceremoniously tosses the remnants on the floor, as she eyes the five female thieves that remained in the room. Without words needed, they immediately follow her desires, and help Fang to free the wounded Savior from her now useless armor. They proceed with swiftness but with care, until they strip Lightning off completely, leaving only her black panties, her semi naked body being immediately covered with a silk cloth.

Now Fang can see, the trail of open flesh that travels up from her right ribs and into her left shoulder, drawing a deep wound that, as they apply wet towels to clean the blood, sometimes they can take glimpses of bone. As they make their way into cleansing the soft skin from blood, the raven haired woman discovers the intricate wound over the pale left breast, where she once set eyes on the brand of the l´Cie curse. In its place, now there´s an opening of the flesh, in the form of an ill-drawn star, that produces black dense smoke, and that still oozes dark blood, no matter how much they cleanse it.

_Oh Lightning… what in the word of Etro happened to you?_

"Boss, the sorcerer is here."

"Let him through, and continue the cleansing of her wounds." She rises from her spot, and without previous warning, threateningly takes the man by the collar, bringing his face very close to hers. "There´s something I want to tell you. You see, not only I´m the boss of this place, but more specially, she´s a very dear friend of mine. So you can imagine what will happen to _you_ if something where to happen to _her…"_

"I-I´ll do my best… B-boss! I swear no my life." The man stutters his response but tries to be reassuring, and she releases him slowly.

As the sorcerer inspect the wounds, Fang gives the supine woman a look of despair, and turns around in a rush, stepping out of the ruins, the air feeling suddenly too dense for her to breathe.

Twilight is falling upon them already, and the still hot air fills Fang´s lungs, somewhat refreshing her. The tall Pulsian inhales deeply and frowns, not knowing her next curse of action, until she decides to just go for a stroll. Fang walks slowly, following the path of the west, her thoughts a complete turmoil, as she seeks calmness in the light of the dying sun.

"She´s so amazing, isn´t she? I bet so many people would be heartbroken if she were to die…"

Her thoughts interrupted by the childish voice, Fang stops her strides and sighs in tiredness.

"What do you want, Lumina? As you can see, I´m not in a mood for your pranks."

"Aww c´mon, Fangy, it´s been quite a while now since last I saw you. I´m sure you missed me."

"Nope, not in the least." Angrily, the woman turns around to face her talker. "Spit it out already. What do you want now?"

The azure eyed pouts mockingly, tilting her head to one side, as she gingerly circles the angry warrior. "Oh Fang… I´m hurt. Don´t you think I´m only here because I´m concerned about Lightning´s well being?"

Her words set Fang´s anger on fire, and she makes her crimson blade to dance menacingly towards the girl.

"Don´t you dare place a hand on her, because I swear I´ll split your little throat in two."

But Lumina is far too fast for the woman, so she jumps backwards, avoiding the blades, and shakes a finger mockingly.

"Now now, that´s being plain rude, Fangy. I came here in good terms."

"I really don´t care what you claim your intentions to be. If it´s you, it´s got to be bad intentions. Just give me one more reason, and I sure as hell will give you that spanking you´ve earned for centuries."

Lumina laughs heartily this time. "Well wouldn´t you want that? That´s for sure a wish coming from your heart!" The girl laughs some more, making Fang seethe in anger, but the woman fights not to fall in her game and just ignores her. "I´m sorry to disappoint you, Fangy, but that´s something _you_ won´t be doing soon. But pushing all foolishness aside, I came to warn you: I know of a deeper desire that rests inside of you, and that _right now_ you´re refusing to accept."

Fang smirks at her words, shielding the bloody lance once more. "If you´re talking about the Clavis, I think you came too late, my wish to prevent Vanille from performing the Soulsong is already out in the open, and known by everyone, even the Savior."

"Ooooh… our dear Savior…" Lumina flaps her eyelashes mockingly, "yes, I indeed know she´s already aware of your true intentions, but I´m sure _you _don´t know something. The moment she saw you, especially after your cold reception, the Chaos around her shifted. Your previous encounter actually made me wonder if hiding your feelings from her could´ve hurt her at all?" She lets the words linger for a moment, and then sighs. "But I´m sure you know I´m not talking about _that."_

Fang raises a delicate eyebrow, weary of asking the question. The stretched silence makes Lumina giggle, understanding all too easily the woman´s concern.

"Bingo! I think you already know what I´m talking about."

"No. Not a clue. So if you´re not gonna say any coherent thing today, you´ll have to excuse me but I have a guest to attend."

"Ah yes… you´re soooo wishing to see those beautiful blue eyes open, right?" the sweet honey embedded on the girl´s voice sends shivers down Fang´s back, and her senses speak of danger. But against her best judgment, the raven haired warrior speaks up her mind.

"I don´t like your tone, Lumina. What´s this circus about?"

The young girl approaches the warrior once more, playful steps making circles around the tall figure.

"I´ve always wondered why do you like Lightning this much, you know?" Lumina looks intently at Fang, who eyes her with her most deadly glare, but the girl just giggles. "I mean, it can´t be her hair nor her eyes, after all, Serah and I have those too, and you hate my guts, so, it can´t be those." The girl takes several steps more around the woman, one finger over her lips, mocking a thoughtful pose, as she keeps her piercing stare on the tall warrior.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in my tastes? I´m starting to wonder if you have a crush on me."

Fang teases her, but the playful and enigmatic look that Lumina sends her makes her even more weary, though the girl continues her monologue as if she hadn´t been interrupted.

"It could be her body. Have you seen it? Seen her naked? She is absolutely beautiful, isn´t she? Her perfectly formed curves, modeled with those toned muscles, make her body appear as if chiseled by a master artist…" Lumina sighs teasingly, as she clasps her hands in front of her chest. "She´s like a dream come true…"

The images evoked by her words involuntarily make Fang blush, which sets her anger anew, and she storms towards the building, only to be stopped by Lumina who steps in front of her, blue eyes fiercely piercing hers, a devilish smile on her features.

"But of course not! Silly me. It _is_ her _eyes_! Those eyes so full of fire and determination and power. And I bet it´s her cold and strong personality too, who speaks of no regrets, no turning back, no defeat."

Fang growls, and her reaction brings a triumphant smile on Lumina´s lips.

"But I do wonder. Would you love her if you knew she´s not the same Lightning you met centuries ago? She might not be human anymore, you know?"

"I know that." Fang tries to walk away again, but Lumina stands on her path once more, icy blue eyes blazing with excitement.

"But the most important issue is, would you still love her this much, if you ever see her weak, scared, defeated? Have you ever seen her cry like a child?"

Fang smirks this time, and bends just a little at the waist, to bring her face closer to the girl´s.

"Well, I have some news for you: what you said seems rather a description of your petty self, and guess what? She´s not _you,_ Lumina. But if you must know, I´ve _already _seen her weak, scared and defeated; I have seen her at her worst, and my feelings haven´t changed at all. So, if you´re done with your childish babbling, I´d rather go see if my friend is better, than to spend another minute with you, silly girl."

With that, Fang walks away from her, leaving Lumina alone, wishing she would ponder the mean words she has thrown at her. But knowing the spoiled brat, her words must´ve hit deaf ears.

_For all that I care…_

"She´s the Savior, remember?" Lumina calls on her once more, emotion on her voice. "She´s come to this world to make all of our wishes come true, no matter how small or deep inside us they are. Her mission is to save us through the accomplishment of our deepest desires." The girl raises her voice to be heard, just close to yelling, but Fang only growls and shakes her head, refusing to acknowledge her anymore. "Even _yours_ Fangy! Don´t forget that when you see her!"

Fang doesn´t turn around, not even once, angry and flustered to no end, so she misses the small, soft smile that illuminates the pinkette´s lips, replacing for a moment the sarcastic grin usually plastered on the girl´s face.

ooooOOOOOXIIIOOOOoooo

A/N: I think this is my first Flight fic that I write, though it won´t be long, I´m actually planning only two chapters (though honestly, I´m not sure, I tend to prolong the stories too much). I think we can take a wild guess as to what is Fang´s deepest desire, but whether she´ll get it or not we´ll have to wait to know it.

Biggs is one of the thieves that challenges Lightning to their trials, back in Yusnaan, and who later acclaims her when she overcomes their most dangerous trial. I exaggerated a little bit his reaction, by having him worshipping her, so you can imagine his feelings when he carries in his arms a defeated and dying Lightning.

About Lumina, well… I REALLY adored that girl, I mean, how could you not hate her guts? XD but adored even more the fact that I had suspected Lumina would end up being Lightning herself, and the idea made me wonder how had she interacted with Lightning´s most precious friends. We know that she took care of Sazh, and that always pissed off Snow (XD good for her!), and also that she became best friends with Vanille (I swear, that girl could be friends with a Chocobo Eater!), but they never said anything about Fang, so I hope you like the way she teases her too. I wanted her to be a bit of the teasing-helping that she always procures to Lightning, meaning that she cares for Fang as well, maybe not as the Flight fans would like, she might be too young for that (maybe… she seems like a 13-year-old, so why not some sort of hero-worship?) but she still cares.

I really hope you liked it. Words and comments are always welcomed!


	2. Retaliation

Everyone Needs Saving.

Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I don´t own final fantasy XIII nor any of it´s awesome characters.

ooooOOOOOXIIIOOOOoooooo

"Will she live?"

The voice sounds so anguished, that it makes Biggs and Ramón, the closest sorcerer they could conjure in the Dead Dunes, to turn around and find the source: it´s very hard for them to believe those words where truly spoken from their fearless leader. But the woman in front of them doesn´t seem so fearless anymore. Her eyes seem to be looking straight at the end of the world, straight at the dark abyss, emerald orbs full of ominous thoughts as Fang stares at the immobile figure of the Savior, currently lying on the worn out bed, her lithe and athletic frame illuminated by the dancing lights of a couple of candles. The moment Fang notices their stares, though, she shakes her head slightly, and then glares at both men in defiance.

There she is.

Their fearless leader is back.

But nonetheless, the look on those emerald eyes burns inside Bigg´s memory, who at least has the decency to look sheepish. The thief knows he´s no one to judge, since he himself wants to cry out of anguish, so he just lowers his head out of respect, his dark eyes falling on the pinkette.

"She has high possibilities to make it, if she doesn´t move an inch from her bed," Ramón answers Fang´s question, "but she´ll need a lot of time to recover, and a lot of tending and nursing." As the woman approaches, the dark tanned man removes the silk sheet that covers Lightning´s body, to let the brunette see.

The first thing that calls Fang´s attention is the pinkette´s chest, now completely enveloped in clean bandages, and with no trace of blood nor smoke tainting them, though she can notice Lightning´s skin still paler than usual, and her breathing still seeming laborious.

"I applied a variety of concoctions over the wound, and bandaged her so that it will stop bleeding, at least until she´s conscious enough to drink some health potions, but Boss…" he pauses to sigh, exhausted and concerned, "the wound is deep, her sternum is fractured in two. She´s lucky her chest didn´t burst open right on spot." Fang flinches at the image that his words conjure on her mind. "The Savior needs a few days to rest, needs for that wound to close, or else she´ll die, no matter what we do."

The tall Pulsian snorts sadly at his recommendation.

"I don´t think our almighty Savior will like the idea of resting a couple of days, if you mind me saying."

Ramón sighs and stands up on his feet, his movements reflecting obvious tiredness.

"Well, that I can´t solve. It´s up to her… and to you, Boss."

"M-me?" she stammers at his words. "What do you mean _me_? I can´t take care of her!" After her outburst, Fang immediately composes herself, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "But, don´t worry, I´ll have your patient being attended by a couple of…"

"Thieves?" The man interrupts her. "With all due respect, Boss, she needs someone who´ll look after her, but also, someone she´ll want to come back to. Not a couple of strangers." The man makes a pause to let his words sink in, and it seems to work, since Fang´s eyes meet Lightning´s weakened frame once more, her stare lingering painfully longer than needed. Breaking her concentration, Ramón pushes the issue a little bit further. "She does need you, Boss, if what you told us previously, that she´s a very dear friend of yours, was anywhere near the truth."

"But I´ve never taken care of anyone!" Fang protests further, though this time with less animosity. "It´s always been Vanille the one doing all the nursing and healing work. I´d just…"

"Well, I figured you´d be important for her," the sorcerer tries not to smile at witnessing the tantrum his powerful leader seems to be throwing, "since the Savior called out your name once, in between all her babbling. Though she did call another name quite frequently."

"Serah…" Fang says in a whisper, knowing how important the name must be for the Savior.

"Yes! That one! But she called yours too, so I imagined you must mean something for her as well."

Fang sighs, emotions running wild. "There was a time when I used to think that too…"

Both men choose to ignore that last, sad statement, and do as if not noticing her slip.

"Well Boss. This is my recommendation. But I´m merely a servant: It´s your call." The tanned man places a reassuring hand over her shoulder, and gestures to the thief to follow him. Biggs nods at Ramón and kneels in front of Lightning. The thief respectfully inclines his head and closes his eyes for a full minute, as if on prayer, and then gets up to face the raven haired woman once more.

"If you allow us, Boss, we´ll take our leave, to let you both rest." Biggs offers, and with no more words spoken, he obediently follows the sorcerer. Fang doesn´t address any of them, but thanks both men silently for respecting her needs. After both of them are gone, she sits on the bed, her eyes fixed on Lightning´s pale features.

After all the unusual ruckus happening inside her room, with people constantly talking, walking in and out of it, all of them eager to mend for her needs and Lightning´s, now Fang gladly welcomes the silence and stillness that fall upon both of them, her eyes taking in each detail of Lightning´s face, as if she still couldn´t believe the woman has comeback to them. To _her._After a moment that seems like an eternity, her mind wanders through different thoughts, until the turmoil is just too much to endure in silence, and she finally speaks her mind to the slumbering pinkette.

"I know that man, you know? Biggs." Fang talks to Lightning, getting as an only response the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. "He´s one of the biggest scoundrel I´ve met in my many centuries of life. One humongous headache for me, he´s always been, ever since I founded the Monoculus gang, and one of the biggest thick-headed men I´ve had to endure, second only to Snow. I was never able to control his childishness, to make him grow up. He was a lost cause to me, so I kicked him out of the Dead Dunes for good." She shakes her head. "But then you come, and it takes you just one single fucking day to break him. When he came back from Yuusnaan, after meeting you, he was a changed man. And he proclaimed your name to the heavens. Without trying, you made a miracle of him." She chuckles at the thought. "That´s like you, alright. I´m sure he´s now creating a whole new cult dedicated to _you,_the Almighty, Albeautiful Lightning_._"

The silence that answers her words makes the Pulsian sigh, breaking the mood.

"But now, after expecting so much out of you, after _witnessing_ your miraculous deeds up close and personal, now I have to see you completely still, lying there in my bed, all broken and injured, and I just…" frustrated, Fang passes her fingers through her dark wavy hair, exhaling deeply. "What am I gonna do with you, Sunshine? How am I supposed to take care of you, when it´s you the one who should be taking care of _me_?" silence meets her once more, but this time Fang welcomes it, welcomes the freedom to try and unravel her entangled thoughts.

After several minutes of stillness and silence, Fang finally notices her eyes had been staring at Lightning´s full lips the whole time. As she realizes this, Lumina´s words come at her like a wave.

_Her mission is to save us through the accomplishment of our deepest desires... Even yours, Fangy!_

"My deepest desires?" She speaks to herself. "My deepest…?" She looks at the rosy, parted lips once more, and a small smile is drawn on her face. "Would it be such a surprise that you know which one is my deepest desire, Sunshine?" She inclines a little bit further and whispers, as if talking confidentially. "Would you make it come true? Or would you strike me down with a death glare, like the ones you used to hide your embarrassment with, whenever I caught you staring at me?" She pauses as the memory assaults her mind, and smiles a bit more, while she follows the rhythm of the slumbering woman´s breath. "And which is _your_ deepest desire, mmmh?" Teasingly, Fang approaches further, and small details on the woman´s lips she hadn´t noticed before, claim her attention: their fullness, the way her lower lip is sensually broader than the upper one, how the color is returning to them slowly but surely, how they´re slightly parted… Fang notices her body has been moving on its own accord, approaching closer to the sleeping beauty, and her own lips are but an inch apart from Lightning´s…

But before she makes the so desired contact, Fang stops, and, after a moment of hesitation, she groans and pulls away. The raven haired woman feels angry at herself for not being brave enough to do it, to close the gap.

_What would be the fun of it?_ The warrior sighs as she rises from the bed, her green eyes still fixed on Lightning´s face. _What would mean a kiss like this, if I don´t know whether you´ll kiss back?_

The tall Pulsian shakes her head in anger and sadness.

"Wake up soon, Lightning. I´m so wishing to see that reaction of yours." She brushes the woman´s hand with her fingertips, and walks away towards the small place the thieves had prepared for her to spend the night on watch.

oooooOOOOXIIIOOOOooooo

Darkness meets her as Fang´s eyes open up with a start. She tries to addapt her sight to the black surroundings, while the rest of her senses enhance tenfold. Something had retrieved her from her dreamless sleep, and the stillness of the night makes her even wearier. Slowly, trying to not make any sound, she reaches out to grab Kain´s Lance´s body, and doesn´t feel safe until her calloused fingertips brush the rough surface of the weapon. A moment passes by, where the only sound is that of her own heartbeat running fast in expectation, when a low moan makes her skin prickle in surprise. Her ears strain to hear further, and suddenly the plaintive moan repeats itself, followed by a soft brush of clothing. Slowly, cautiously, Fang straightens from her supine position, and the third groan allows her to place the source: Lightning seems to be tossing and turning in her nightmare, small moans and grunts escaping from her lips.

"Sunshine? Are you ok?"

But in the almost complete darkness of her room, Fang can barely perceive the woman´s tortured frame, so she runs to turn up a small torch near them, and once she does, she notices Lightning´s face all flushed, darkened pink locks glued to her skin, as sweat covers her whole. Her eyes are tightly shut, as if in deep pain, and the sheet that had been placed over her body, currently lies at the feet of the bed, barely covering the pinkette´s legs, and allowing Fang to see the small dark fume escaping from the woman´s bandaged chest.

"Lightning! Lightning! Wake up! It´s just a nightmare!" Worried, Fang tries to raise her friend, to wake her up, but the contact makes her flinch, as she feels the extremely high temperature the soft skin is transmitting, and immediately places the back of her hand over the pinkette´s sweaty forehead. "Damn! She´s got a fever!" Without missing a beat, Fang runs out of the room and grabs by the collar the slumbering guard outside her door, who jumps wide awake at the aggressive treatment. "Go fetch the sorcerer! Now!"

Startled, the man only nods, eyes wide open, and stumbling, he rushes outside to seek the man.

Once Ramón arrives, Fang immediately drags him in, and the man kneels in front of the sick woman, inspecting the bandages.

"I need to see the wound, Boss. But my guess would be the main problem is the magical wound… it seems it won´t respond to my treatment."

Fang nods her approval and the man proceeds to inspect the pinkette. After a moment, the brunette´s anxiety peaks.

"So? What do we do?"

But Ramón doesn´t answer her, too concentrated on cautiously unwrapping the bandages that protect the chest. But at the first release of one of the clothes, a fast and menacing hand, with long fingers forming a claw, makes its way into the man´s throat, entrapping him, denying him any oxygen into his lungs.

"What have you done to me…?!" Husky, dangerous voice reaches their ears as Fang´s eyes open wide in surprise.

"Lightning! Stop!"

The Savior is awake, but at the moment she doesn´t look anywhere near the savior they had been expecting for so long. Lightning´s bloodshot eyes are full of rage, full of violence, as she stares into the man´s dark and terrified ones. With her hand still trapping his windpipe, she pushes herself up using the other hand, trying painfully to rise from her spot, as she brings Ramon´s face closer to hers, whispering menacingly another threat.

"Undo what you´ve done to me, or I swear I´ll rip off that throat of yours…"

The man tries desperately to explain or deny her accusations, but he isn´t able to speak at all, only to shake his head slightly and make grunting sounds, his skin becoming bluer by the second. Her grip on him is very tight, and not even with both hands is he able to free himself, futile efforts consuming the little oxygen he has left. Nonetheless, his clinical senses are still connected, so he feels worried by the extremely high temperature her whole body seems to be emanating.

"Lightning! No!"

Fang comes to the rescue, clutching the hand tight and fighting to open the grip, but it seems to be useless, and the man shows all the signs to start falling into unconsciousness. As a last resort, Fang punches the other woman in the jaw, forcing her to release the sorcerer, who falls to the floor almost limp, coughing, desperately struggling to take in some air, as Fang drags him as far away as possible from the shorter woman, but without loosing visual contact with Lightning.

"What´s wrong with you?!"

Azure eyes open wide at discovering Fang´s frame, and then become like slits, raw fury pooling on them. "You…!"

Lightning, her lower lip bleeding, slowly and painfully raises from the bed, her stare dangerously fixed on emerald eyes, and the blazing intensity embedded on them is immediately perceived by the Pulsian warrior.

"Lightning wake up! It´s me! It´s us! You don´t have to do this!"

But the pinkette, already on her feet and adopting a combat position, glares at the taller woman, husky voice full of threat.

"Of all the people I could think would betray me, you were the last on my list, Fang… how could you do that to me?!"

"B-betray you?"

Emerald eyes open wide in surprise at the accusation, but she can´t do any further questioning, since Lightning attacks with a strike directed at her jaw, which Fang avoids quite easily. The weakness is evident in Lightning, as she staggers after throwing the punch, and Fang has to resist the urge of stretching out her hand to help the shorter woman gain her equilibrium.

But fortunately she doesn´t need to. Aided with one hand over the nearest table, Lightning stabilizes herself, as she sends her deadliest glare over Fang, but its overall effect is lessened by Lightning´s ragged breathing, and by evident tremors that run all over her body.

"I don´t know what you´re talking about, Sunshine! For Etro´s sake I don´t know!"

"Don´t call me that! Don´t you ever call me like that again!"

If possible, Lightning grows angrier, the strain of her voice showing the intensity of her emotions.

"You were my friend, Fang! No… You were _more than_my friend! Of all the people I thought would support me, you were at the top!" Gasping for air, and flinching for the effort, Lightning lowers her voice, making it seem as if every single word were a threat. "But knowing that you followed me into the ruins, not to aid me but because you _distrusted me_, hurt a thousand times more than having to cross swords with that dickhead of Snow!" She spats the last words, and clutches her chest tight, the pain over her heart intensifying.

Fang flinches at her words. She can see it now: all that rage and violence carry with them Lightning´s hurt feelings, and the depth of her emotions hits the warrior full force, harder than any punch she could receive.

As if the pain were boosting her rage and strength, Lightning manages to take an axe fixed on the wall, and attacks Fang full force. The woman, her crimson weapon already secured on her back, receives the strike with her lance without effort. But the violence of the impact is far beyond what she had been expecting. The strike produces sparks at the contact of the weapons, and resonates through their arms, making the dark haired woman open her eyes wide in surprise.

_Damn! If this is the strength of a sick, wounded Savior, I really wouldn´t want to face her in her prime!_

Fang redirects the attack to the side, and considers making a counterattack to finish the battle as soon as possible, for Lightning´s and her own sake. With that thought in mind, she takes an offensive position, when suddenly she feels her forearm entrapped by a hand. The Pulsian lowers her eyes and finds Ramon kneeled in front of her, clutching his throat and making a hard effort to talk to her.

"D-don´t… Boss… she´s not thinking… clearly…" with a rasped voice, the man´s dark eyes look up at emerald ones, the strain too obvious for him. "She´s delirious… the fever… is too high… she´s not sweating anymore… not cooling at all… she´s near shock…" He coughs some more, forcing his throat to obey. "And her wound… look at her wound, Boss… we need to…"

But he isn´t able to finish his sentence, since Lightning attacks both of them, clashing her weapon against Fang´s with brute force. The tall Pulsian receives the attack and flinches at the unusual strength embedded in it, then retaliates, sending a barrel of blows against the pinkette. She knows she´s not fast enough for Lightning, who rejects every strike she sends towards her, but at least Fang manages to force the pinkette as far away from Ramon as possible, as she tries herself to be heard.

"Lightning! Stop this madness! I explained it to you already! I had to do it! For Vanille!"

A flash of rage in Lightning´s azure eyes makes Fang realize her choosing of words had been a total mistake.

"Vanille! It´s always for Vanille! I´m tired of it, Fang, I´m fucking tired of you both!"

Lightning strikes with renewed strength, and Fang is just barely able to avoid the hit on her shoulder, as the ax embeds itself on her table. Behind the violence imbued in each attack, the tall Pulsian can see how difficult it is for the pinkette to yield the weapon, not only for her flinching as she whirls around the ax, but for the obvious crimson staining on the once pristine bandages. The wound seems to be opening, and the pain must be unbearable. Nonetheless, all of it seems to do nothing to the Savior´s stamina, since the attacks keep coming at full force.

Fang wants to stop this, stop the injuring of her friend (and the possibility of having her own head separated from her shoulders), but the pinkette seems to be too enthralled on making her pay, on taking out all her anger and hurt, all her frustration. Sadly, the raven haired woman can relate to that.

Another clashing of the weapons makes Fang´s arms feel numb for a moment, and, for the first time in all the years of sparring sessions and multiple battles, she truly starts to fear for her life, as Lightning hurls towards her, both arms raised above her in a powerful attack.

"Please Lightning, stop! I never meant to hurt you! I never thought…" but a set of blows silence her, as she is forced to move fast to avoid them. Soon, Fang will be forced to attack with all her strength too, and it would mean hurting Lightning even more…

"I would never bring up such a lame apology to Lightning, you know? Particularly not now that she can´t think clearly." Lumina makes her appearance next to them, cocky grin still plastered on her features. "See that smoke coming from her chest? It´s a curse, a very horrible curse."

Another blow, and Fang just barely makes in on time before she´s sliced in two.

"I know it´s a curse!" She growls in anger. "Tell me something I don´t know! What is it doing to her? How can I help her?!"

Lumina smiles teasingly at both women, but says nothing else, as she walks around them from a prudent distance, a cautious spectator of their dangerous game. Lightning slashes downwards at Fang, making the weapons clash again and producing sparks, as the taller Pulsian receives the blow with her lance in a horizontal defense, each woman trying to force the other backwards. While both friends struggle against each other, Lumina places herself right behind Fang, so that she can look straight at a pair of azure eyes fixed furiously on the taller woman´s face, while she whispers softly and tauntingly over raven locks.

"Her heart is full of Chaos, Fangy. Can´t you see the maleficent glimmer in her eyes? The Chaos is the reason why only her darkest emotions are flooding out. Her feelings are going highwire, more so like never before, unfortunately, only the negative ones. I warned you, didn´t I? She´s not the same Lightning you once knew and loved."

Fang wants to ask further, but fails to perceive Lightning´s icy blue eyes opening wide in surprise at noticing Lumina´s presence, apparently for the first time. The release of the pressure over her weapon takes the Pulsian by surprise, making her stagger, and the scream that follows after, sends her instinct going on rampage.

"LUMINA!"

The scream makes Lumina jump, startled, and she gives a step backwards in surprise. Lightning jumps a couple of feet from the girl, gathering every ounce of magic she can conjure, and immediately sends a powerful blast towards the shorter pinkette.

The first thing the warrior feels is the chill that closes on them, and Fang recognizes the power of an areora spell directed at the girl. Lumina is really fast, but no one is faster than Lightning, so when the girl opens her azure eyes wide in surprise and tries to avoid the hit, the attack is already closing on her, her terror so absolute, that she fails to try a way out inside the Chaos. Fortunately for Lumina, she´s only a step away from Fang, who jumps at the girl and protects her with her own body, receiving the blunt of the attack. The powerful spell surrounds Fang and Lumina, and they both are sent up in the air in a whirlwind, bringing along with them everything it can: furniture, small weapons, everything that isn´t fixed on the floor or not heavy enough to resist the attack, which makes Fang protectively envelop Lumina´s body with her arms. They both fly around the room, hitting every wall and being hit with almost everything that had been caught in the maelstrom, and that now flies alongside them. Fang curls into a ball, trying to protect herself and the girl as much as possible, when the power of the curse begins to fade and she dares to open her eyes. The first thing she notices is that the wind has turned almost red, crimson drops floating all around them.

_B-blood? But whose…?_

The last thing Fang manages to see is Lightning´s frame collapsing on the ground, before something hard hits her head and she falls, enveloped in darkness.

oooOOOOXIIIOOOOoooo

A/N: How curious! This story was thought to be a one-shot, but it has already two chapters and will have probably more! (don´t think too many, though).

Wow! I hadn´t been expecting that response from Lightning! But well, can you really blame her? She did look disappointed with Fang´s treatment of her in the game, (man! I was actually spatting back at Fang! With all that negative sarcasm and making fun of her being the Savior… I honestly wanted so much to slap her!) so I thought that Lightning´d probably would want to make her pay. Though maybe I overdid it a bit XD. Also, Lightning never attacks Lumina in the game, but o boy! Did she look like she was dying to! XDDD so I felt like giving her that release at least once; poor Lumina! Such a scare she took!

Ramón is the merchant Lightning finds on her journey over the Dead Dunes, the one who had lost all interest on his work after his wife´s death. I thought that, if he really was as good as his competitor had said, he could as well be some sort of sorcerer. I thought he was sweet, so I included him in the story so that he could return the favor to Lightning.

Hope you enjoyed readying as much as I enjoyed writing it!

For those who left unsigned reviews, here´s my answer:

Anon: I´m so glad you´re liking the idea so far! Thank you for your comment! I know their first interaction maybe wasn´t what you had expected, but hopefully it´ll still keep you interested!


	3. Stronger bonds

Everyone Needs Saving.

Chapter 3.

oooooOOOOOXIIIOOOOOooooooo

She can hear soft whimpering in the distance, though at first she cannot place the origin. As her mind begins to clear, she notices the sobbing is right at her side. Fang tries to move, but it elicits such headache, that she´s more than willing to stay on the same position. But she must know. She forces her eyes to open and her muscles to obey, in spite of the way her body is screaming at her in protest.

"Ough… I should´ve seen that one coming…"

It takes her just a few seconds for her mind to process the previous events. Her eyes open wide at remembering her plight, and then search desperately for the frame of her pinkette friend, falling in terror the moment she finds her lying on the floor in front of her, unconscious, though already being attended by Ramón, whose back is facing the warrior, too concentrated on the supine woman.

"Lightning!"

"I got her, Boss." The man hadn´t noticed Fang´s awakening, but at hearing her alarmed voice, he turns his head to look at her, trying to appease her worries, and immediately after returns his attention towards his patient, though still addressing the taller woman. "Her wound is open again, but she´ll be fine, she didn´t hurt herself any more than she already was. It seems the wound just opened partially, though enough to shed a lot of blood. I was able to stop the bleeding before it gets even nastier for her, and now I´m trying to have her fever controlled before doing anything else. If you allow me to finish with her, in a minute I´ll patch you up. But I´m warning you, Boss." the man pauses for a moment to turn around and fix his eyes on emerald orbs, not a trace of hesitation on them in spite of locking eyes with the fierce woman. "There was a lot of blood loss, and a lot of dehydration for the fever, even for the almighty Savior. She _will be_ extremely weak and in danger. You oughta take care of her, or else..."

Fang nods at him as his words sink in, and slowly stands up, flinching at the pain from time to time, when she hears the earlier sobbing starting anew, right next to her, and turns to see Lumina all bundled up in a fetal position on the corner of the room, sobbing uncontrollably, her eyes fixed on the unconscious pinkette.

Such pitiful sight makes Fang´s heart clench, forgetting it´s Lumina she´s staring at. Something about her looks, at that moment, makes the tall Pulsian want to hug the girl and to shush her crying.

"Are you ok, Lumina? Where are you hurt?"

In between sobbing and sniffing, the girl shakes her head in denial.

"I´m- I´m not injured, Fangy…*sniff* y-you protected me pretty well… I´m not *sniff*… I´m not hurting anywhere…"

Fang´s eyebrow twitches at the loathsome nickname, but she pushes her irritation aside and kneels, trying to help the broken girl in front of her.

"Then why are you crying? I know Lightbug must´ve scared the hell out of you, but then I thought that, you being all the time embedded in chaos and with all that many monsters being your pals, a scary little bugger like her wouldn´t even make you fret."

"Don´t be silly, Fangy!" the girl retorts at her, half angrily, half insulted, her old self returning for a split second. "I´m not crying because she scared me!"

The sudden outburst puts the Pulsian on edge. "Then, why are you crying? And stop that 'Fangy' thing, please, my name is Fang."

"I´m crying because… because I never thought she´d ever raised a hand against _me._ Fang, she tried to _kill me!"_

"Well… that shouldn´t be a shocker to you, you know?" Fang tries to suppress a smirk with all her might, but still the tone of her voice gives her out. "We all want to spank you anytime we get a glimpse of you. But you´re the only one to blame for that, and…"

"Oh shut it, Fang! Why on Etro did I think you´d be more than an empty-headed-bandit!? I knew you would never understand what I´m going through!"

Ignoring Fang´s glare, the little pinkette stands up, angered by the unwelcomed lecture, and turns around calling up Chaos for her, making Fang sigh out of frustration. But before Lumina steps into the dark fog, she pauses and looks at the brunette over her shoulder, hesitant, eyes still glassy over the tears.

"T-thank you for protecting me Fangy, you didn´t have to."

"I know. Don´t know what came over me, though." Pushing aside her own displeasure, for the girl´s benefit the woman smirks at her playfully, which elicits a small, hesitant smile from the little pinkette, a gesture that, oddly, makes Fang think the girl actually looks cute. Lumina nods and is about to leave, when she hesitates again and turns, facing the kneeled woman.

"I… I know Lightning doesn´t like me, but… but I do like her, and it hurts anytime I see her hardened eyes looking at me. I do like her, Fangy, really, I don´t want her to be hurt."

A delicate eyebrow rises, unconvinced with such statement.

"Then why are you always so annoying and troublesome and double time annoying towards her? Or to anyone, for that matter?"

Lumina shrugs, not really hurt by her words, and instead, her devilish and all-time-present-and-annoying smirk shows up, though Fang can´t help but notice it lacks its usual animosity.

"Maybe I don´t know any other way to relate with people? Maybe it´s my way of showing I care. Maybe I think it´s the only way I´ll get a reaction from Lightning, any reaction at all. I mean, I know it´s not pleasant to have her all worked up and flustered, but at least that way I can get a glimpse of an emotion from her, even if it´s an ugly one." She shrugs one last time, though with a tinge of sadness. "It´s… complicated, I guess." The little pinkette pauses and sighs, and then her countenance changes to that of resolve and, without warning, she kneels in front of the tanned woman, blazing azure eyes locked on emerald. "The curse is eating at Lightning´s strength, Fangy, it devours her vital stamina. And it will never heal unless she defeats the one who inflicted the curse."

Determined azure eyes bore into Fang´s, and the Pulsian can´t shake the idea of finding striking similarities between her friend and this girl… besides the obviously similar hair color.

"Who did this to her?"

"Caius Ballad." Emerald eyes open wide at the straightforward accusation. "The power of the Chaos has made him almost unbeatable, especially if faced inside the castle, though still not enough to defeat Bhunivelze´s Savior all by himself. But our Savior is injured and weakened, and will grow weaker by the minute. The curse is feeding off of her, of the chaos inside her heart. It can´t be stopped from the outside."

"Lightning is stronger than him." Fang retorts heatedly, loyal to her friend. "She defeated him once, I´m sure she´ll be able to defeat him again!"

Lumina smiles faintly, sadly.

"I´m sorry to tell you this, Fangy, but Lightning never defeated Caius. It was Noel´s victory, what brought the Chaos to this world." The girl stands up and steps into the Chaos, but not before sending a final warning. "If Lightning faces Caius all by herself in the state she´s currently in, there´s a high chance she´ll die. But if she doesn´t defeat him soon, the curse will slowly, but surely, kill her. Not even our Almighty Savior has the power to erase that much chaos from her heart."

Those final words are spoken almost in a whisper in the whirlwind of dark power, but their weight echo and settles upon the Pulsian´s heart. Fang stands up and fixes her eyes upon her very unconscious and very pale friend, concern and determination washing over her.

_I won´t let that happen, Light. I swear to Etro I won´t let any of that happen to you._

ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOXIIIOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

Breathing comes as an accomplishment, while consciousness starts to reach her. The pain is exquisite, trying to move is torture, just breathing elicits more pain, though ten times stronger than what she´s felt before. So the only thing she does is what she´s learned to do. Control the fear, and breath in and out slowly, softly, smoothly.

But her grunting has elicited another sound too. Azure eyes open up slowly, trying to adjust to the dim light of the room, as a darkened figure approaches her. At first, the Savior tenses all her aching muscles, but as the raven locks fall into her field of view, followed by a pair of concerned-looking emerald eyes she knows so well, she sighs in relief.

"Fang…" Lightning says, impressed at how weak her voice sounds. She clears her throat, and though still confused, she makes a second attempt. "Fang, where…? How is it… why…?"

Thousands of questions assault her mind, she´s feeling so disoriented it hurts even more than the wound in her breast. Lightning is not even sure how she came to be on the bandit´s lair, her memory blurry, making her head ache even more. The pinkette closes her eyes and moans, while with one hand she clutches her locks tightly, forcing her stupid brain to remember; but the taller woman sits beside her, taking the offensive appendix and lowering it slowly and tenderly, while with the other hand she removes a soft bang from the troubled woman´s eyes.

"Ssshhhh… it´s okay, Sunshine, you´re among friends. You´re in our headquarters, in my room. So don´t worry. We´re not gonna let anything happen to you. You´re safe now."

Safety is not something she´s searching for at the moment. She´s got a mission to accomplish, people to save.

_I need to save Serah._

Lightning tries to straighten from her supine position, but the pain freezes her on the spot. Fortunately for her, Fang is there to push her down, and so hide the embarrassment such weakness brings to her.

"It´s ok, Lightbug. You´re injured, but hopefully you´ll be better soon. Don´t worry, you´ll have plenty of time to play the fairy-godmother for everyone. But now I need you to lay down for a while."

Lightning sighs, though the movement elicits more pain, but she tries to relax under the scrutiny of her friend.

"How are you feeling now, Lightbug?"

A small smirk in response. Lightning doesn´t want to address the truth and instead dismisses it with silence. But Fang is not someone to be fooled.

"That bad, uh?" She sighs, as she places a tanned hand over a pale forehead. The fever is finally gone, and so the Pulsian warrior can feel her own distress released a bit.

Such tenderness and such care can´t pass unnoticed by the pinkette, who smiles softly, while closes her eyes to feel the caress and sighs in contentment, then opens them to meet emerald orbs with gratitude.

"It´s so good to see you again, Fang..."

"Not as good as seeing you among the living, Sunshine. I´ll try it again. How do you feel?"

Lightning smiles a wider smile this time, acknowledging the stubbornness of her best friend, but also her sweet concern over her well being.

"If you must know, I feel like shit, as if an adamantortoise had just danced over my body." She groans before adding. "My chest hurts like hell. I can barely breathe…"

"Which means you should just rest up and stop talking. The wound hasn´t closed still, it could be reopened anytime."

"Wound?" Azure eyes shot open, as if the word had brought with it a wave of memories assaulting her mind. Her confrontation with Caius, her clumsiness that allows him to get a direct hit on her; their battle she was so close of losing; her falling unconscious over the warm sand…

"What happened? Why am I here?"

She makes a feeble attempt at getting up again, but the pain is just too unbearable, even for her, so she lets herself be forced on the bed once more.

"Sshh… please, stay calm, or you´ll get yourself hurt. Again."

"Again?"

"Please, stop talking, you´re supposed to be resting."

Her fingers close over Fang´s forearm with an iron grip, and the raven-haired woman flinches in empathy, recognizing so easily the signs of torture over the younger woman´s azure eyes. But she also recognizes the determination embedded in them.

"Fang, I need to know. I trust you. Please, tell me what happened."

"You weren´t thinking like that a little while ago." A sad smirk plays on the taller woman´s lips, one that makes Lightning´s mind screech in a halt.

"What?"

"Hey Boss! I brought some more vials of…" The man, the bartender of their little hideout, enters without previous warning, and Fang releases herself from Lightning´s vicious grip, obviously angry about the interruption. But the man makes no sign that he has noticed his slip. Instead, he looks at a couple of empty bottles over the table, ones that Lightning hadn´t noticed before. "I see you´ve consumed all four I left you!"

"Consumed?" Lightning is impressed by his words. And now that she scans the place, taking note of her surroundings, she finds the room looking as if a raging storm passed through the place: broken furniture and weapons lie scattered everywhere, the paintings are ruined, as well as some adornments Fang had over the table, and it seems to be… blood… over the floor and furniture.

"Fang? What _really _happened here?"

"She doesn´t remember?" the bartender intervenes, and the raven haired woman sends a deadly glare towards him, but the man must´ve been blind, or been completely oblivious not to notice, since he keeps on talking, seemingly way too excited to be the one to tell the tale. "You were soooo terrifying, Miss Lightning! With all that power and rage! I had never seen the Boss so beaten up! I actually thought it was impossible to even scratch her skin, and then you came! You looked like the Goddess of Death herself!"

Azure eyes open wide in surprise and horror at his statement.

"That´s it! That´s enough! Out of here! _Now!_" Fang finally reacts and pushes the man outside of the room.

"But… but Boss! I need to refill those bottles! Your ribs are still broken and I´m sure Miss Lightning…"

"I think you´ve done enough! I said GO!"

The woman unceremoniously throws him through the door, and then slams it shut, and rummaging, returns to the table, busing herself with the bottles and refusing to look at the fairer woman.

"Is that true? Fang?"

No response. Lightning is starting to lose patience.

"Fang?"

"Don´t worry about it, Sunshine."

"Please tell me."

"There´s nothing to tell."

"Fang, please."

The warrior doesn´t answer, and does as if she´s too busy refilling the bottles, preparing some vials, while Lightning feels her rage peak. Her stubbornness takes the best of her, so the Savior pushes herself upwards, grunting and sweating at the pain and the effort, but refusing to be defeated by such.

"Lightning!" Fang runs to her side, far too late since Lightning is already seated on the edge of the bed, sweating profusely and becoming paler than ever, her breathing ragged. "Please lie down, the wound isn´t healed and…"

But the pinkette slaps Fang´s hands away from her shoulders, and instead locks eyes with her, azure piercing emerald ones, and the intensity written on them freezes Fang on her spot. The taller woman can see that every breath is painful, especially since Lightning´s breathing is fast and laborious; Fang actually flinches at the thought. Lightning, nonetheless, clenches her jaw, closes her eyes and, with a last moan, pushes herself up and away from the bed, finally standing on her own feet, much to Fang´s desperation, who only hovers her hands around the shorter woman´s frame, too weary to touch her. Lightning´s knees buckle under her, and she staggers until her hands find the wall next to her; she huffs and grunts, feeling her mind going numb and afraid that her legs might budge under her weight… but they still support her, and she presses her back upon the wall, trying to stabilize herself while she inhales deeply, ignoring the pain, forcing her body to respond to her commands.

She opens her eyes and has a hard time focusing her sight, but after a few seconds finally, _finally_, she´s able to stand on her own feet without the imminent danger of passing out, so she smirks, and sends a defiant look at her friend, straightening her posture, putting aside the exquisite pain the movement elicits.

At the sight, Fang just huffs and passes a hand over her wild locks, sending a smirk back at the stubborn woman.

"Show off." The warrior spats at the pinkette, earning the rising of a delicate eyebrow, but then the warrior shrugs and gives a step backwards, confident that her friend won´t be falling off on the ground… at the moment. "Fine then. After this completely unnecessary bravado display, would you care to join me for breakfast?"

A playful glare as a response. "Only if you tell me you weren´t the one cooking."

The taller woman chuckles at the words. "You should remember who was the one keeping you alive during our time as l'Cie. Vanille wasn´t the only one cooking, you know?"

"I know, and I remember, that being the reason why I rather not eat something you cooked."

"I´m a little bit offended by that."

"And I´m a little bit concerned you might want to punish me with your food for all the trouble I´ve seemed to caused you, given the state of your residence." Lightning passes an appraising look at her surroundings, after which she locks eyes with her friend, prompting her to talk. "Care to explain all of this?"

Fang sighs. "I thought you had forgotten about it."

"You know me better than that."

"Then I should propose you better sit down." Second time the eyebrow rises, though this time Fang´s response to that is a smirk of defiance. "Trust me, Sunshine. You might need it."

Lightning´s eyes linger on her friend, but then she looks at the floor, considering the possible risk of intense pain, or even worse, to lose her balance and fall unceremoniously to the floor, if she dared to leave the security of her wall. Or rather, she _glares_ at the floor, as if the damn thing were responsible for her plight. She´s well aware she must do this, must stop relying on something as stupid as a wall, but has a hard time deciding, until she closes her eyes in resignation and sighs.

_I can do this…_

Fang awaits for the woman´s decision with all the patience in the world, understanding her feelings, until a ruckus is heard outside her office and she goes out to see, only to almost smash herself against Adonis, who steps back in surprise at finding his face mere inches from his boss´s. The surprise makes him stagger backwards and finally he lands on his rump, caught completely off guard.

"Woah! Ouch!"

"What´s happening out there?" Fang is split between helping his second-in-command or rushing towards the exit.

"Oh! Boss! You gotta come!" Painfully, the man stands, his concerned gaze fixed on the tall woman. "The Gurangatch is here again! Is trying to steal today´s hunting!"

"Again? Damn thing!" He needn´t ought to say another word. Without missing a bit, Fang grabs her bloody lance and rushes towards the exit, prompting her man to follow her as a rush of anger, weariness and excitement are dangerously mixed inside her blood. "Let´s go!"

Both bandits run to the encounter of the beast, but after a second Fang returns in a flash, peeking through the door to glare intently at the injured woman, as a menacing finger is pointed at the pinkette.

"Don´t you even _consider_ following us, Sunshine! Don´t you _dare_ disobey me for only a second! This is _my _place and as long as you stay here you follow _my _rules. Are we clear?" Without waiting for a response, Fang´s head disappears behind the door.

Lightning glares back at the empty space left by the taller woman, but then looks again at the floor, her worst enemy at the moment, and clenches her jaw in anticipation.

_Some things in life you just do…_

Meanwhile, Fang runs as fast as she can towards the exit, followed closely by Adonis. She knows Gurangatch all too well, having fought against the monster many times already, and knows from experience the beast is a nasty one: with its form resembling that of an overdeveloped turtle, it was born with an organic carapace that is almost like an impenetrable armor covering most of its body, so impossible to damage that the locals have baptized the exosqueleton "iron wall". But its most terrible feature is its fearlessness: whenever the beast attacks, it doesn´t care how dangerous it´s target might be, nor how many lives it has to take, as long as the little bastard steals a big chunk of meat. The monstrosity has already stolen from the bandits a few hunting, and it´s been only Fang, with a lot of effort and injured thieves, the one to make it flee. The monster is way too strong to be truly defeated, its powerful carcass preventing them from doing any real damage.

As they arrive at the battle scene, Fang can see the plight her bandits are in: there are already two men on the ground, hopefully just unconscious, and four more shooting or striking with their weapons the impenetrable scales of the beast´s shell.

"Damn." The tall Pulsian curses under her breath, and then starts shouting orders at her people, distributing them for the attack, while she serves as bait for the powerful offender, shooting and swearing at it, trying to provoke it by making all the noise she can conjure. The beast turns around and finds the woman, and Fang can swear it recognizes her from previous robberies, as it charges against her with a deafening roar, one that would freeze anyone´s bones; but the woman takes the sudden attack to her advantage, avoiding its already bloody fangs at the last minute and allowing her people a clear view of the monster´s throat. But the scales are too thick, and the beast is too fast for them, so the weapons don´t even make a scratch on the powerful armor. Gurangatch bits again in the air, inches from the tanned skin of the queen of bandits, and Fang understands that, this time, the monster has come for something more than just meal: it has come for her.

"You want a piece of me? Come and get it!" Fang taints the animal, and as it lunges towards her, the sound of thunder reaches everyone´s ears, and a sudden, blinding light envelopes the beast, making Fang stagger backwards. The monster screeches in pain, and a foul smell, like that of burned flesh, invades the air.

"What the…?"

Fang tries to see beyond the creature, all too aware of the responsible for such a powerful attack, but another flashing light, this one of fire nature, strikes once more the huge beast. Though this time, the scales are burning hot, white hot, and the monster retreats them, trying to ease the torture, while it lunges towards Fang, blinded by fury and pain, confused at the origin of the attack but convinced it must be the tanned bandit´s doing.

It´s the worst mistake Gurangatch has done, and also the last.

The woman is way too skilled a hunter for a simple beast to beat her, especially when its armor is already gone. A flick of her wrist is all it takes for her to severe the monster´s trachea and carotid artery, now completely stripped from its protective shell, and with a few seconds of tremors, the fiend falls dead, bathed on its own blood.

Everyone cheers at their boss´s victory, but the cheering increases all too evidently at the sight of the young, beautiful pinkette that lingers in the entrance of the building, everyone well aware the spells had been her doing.

While all the bandits cheer and whistle at the two powerful women, Lightning´s azure eyes are defiantly fixed on the emerald ones of the Queen of Bandits. The pinkette has her back resting upon a pillar and with a smirk playing on her lips, an aloof attitude on her stance.

But Fang knows better.

For her knowing eyes, there is no escaping the sweat on the pale woman´s forehead, the small tremor on her stance, the evident shadow of sheer torture behind her azure, blazing eyes. It´s obvious the beautiful pinkette is in pain, but at the moment the warrior has no sympathy for the disobedient woman: her authority has been confronted, and Fang can do nothing but glare at the stubborn ex-soldier.

"I thought I had told you to stay safe in my room."

At the words, Lightning returns the glare, but the mirth is evident in her voice.

"Tch. I _am _safe, or can you say I received any kind of injury?" Her smile grows wider, as Fang´s eyebrow twitches. "You should know better than to think you can order me around, 'Queen of Bandits'."

Fang is about to retort but thinks against it and instead smirks at the smaller woman.

"Yeah, you´re right. Guess that´s a lesson I should´ve learned a long time ago, right? Though there´s no denying something."

"And what´s that?"

"You´re just too stubborn to die."

Caught off guard for a split second, Lightning smiles sadly at this, and both women share a second of silence and reminiscence, but then something dark passes by Fang´s countenance, and she breaks eye contact and shrugs, a gesture that makes Lightning thoughtful.

"Fine. Who am I to judge? Have it your way, Savior."

The return of the defensive, sarcastic warrior makes Lightning´s frozen heart sting, but she remains silent, while the other woman approaches, not meeting her crystal-blue eyes. Fang is passing by her, intent on entering the building without crossing any other word, but then hesitates, and stops at the level of the pinkette, who´s still resting her back against the wall. Emerald eyes are fixed on the stone floor, refusing to meet azure ones, but Lightning can see them alight with an emotion she just cannot place. It´s just so unusual for Fang to be hesitant, that seeing her like this is rather unsettling, but she still allows the silence among them stretch a full minute. The moment Lightning is about to address the woman, Fang´s voice reaches her in a soft, almost imperceptible whisper.

"I´m sorry, Light."

"Excuse me?"

"I said…"

"I know." Lightning´s voice raises, with no other intention but to spare her the humiliation. "I´m unsure at what, though."

"Well… Back in the labyrinth… I was…"

"An insufferable bitch? A traitorous moron? Everything but a true friend?" Lightning snaps at her, which makes Fang´s eyes open wide in astonishment and turn to see her friend. Lightning´s eyes are locked with hers, but she cannot see in them true anger nor true malice. Or at least nothing she can place.

"Well… yeah… for that too..."

Lightning sighs and straightens her posture a bit, locking eyes with her friend.

"It hurt, Fang. It hurt to see you not trusting me, to see you on guard whenever you were close to me. To hear you talking sarcastically about my mission and me, because I _know_, whenever you do that, it means you´re feeling distrustful about the situation. Or of the person, in this case."

Not without effort, Lightning finally manages to stand on her feet, not relying on the wall, her azure eyes fixed on the woman.

Though she cannot see true malice in them, Fang can still see a glimpse of a dark emotion running through them. It´s very disturbing to see a woman so passionate once, that a few hours ago felt so strongly, being so… collected… as if her feelings where lessened, somehow.

"Yeah, Light… I´m sorry for all that too… I…"

"But I understand, Fang." The pinkette interrupts the tall warrior, seriousness in her countenance. "I know why you did it. Believe me, if our roles where reversed, and it was Serah the one in danger, and you the one in my place, I, too, would´ve doubted of you, because Serah is the most important person for me, just like Vanille is for you."

Fang´s heart clenches at the trust and understanding Light is capable of, feeling even more guilty than before, but at the same time relieved of a heavy weight.

"So. No hard feelings."

"Well…" a small smirk plays on the pale beauty´s lips. "That doesn´t mean I won´t seek revenge at the first opportunity that presents to me."

The brunette woman chuckles at that. "Well, it won´t be today, so let´s play the white flag and let me aid you to return to my room."

Fang wants to laugh out loud at witnessing the darkening of Lightning´s features at her last words.

"I don´t need to be aided."

"Yes, you do. So stop being stubborn and just take my hand."

Rather too roughly for Lightning´s taste, Fang takes the pale hand and guides it to her shoulder, the taller woman trying her hardest to drown the exhilarating butterflies dancing in her stomach the moment the pale fingers get in contact with her tanned skin.

"There. I won´t touch you, but you can walk by my side and I´ll lead the way. One step at a time, Light. I promise I´ll keep it slow."

Lightning glares at the woman, but the pleading emerald eyes finally get to her cold heart, and she huffs and accepts, giving a step towards the tall Pulsian.

"Fine. Lead the way, oh Great Queen of Bandits."

Fang snorts at the jib, but complies.

ooooOOOOOOXIIIOOOOOOOoooooooooo

Author´s Note:

I´m so sorry for the long, long, ooooh so long delay in posting! But there are so many hard and rather stressful things happening in my life, that they completely occupy almost every single hour of the day, and obviously erase all my inspiration. But I´m BACK! I hope I didn´t lose you, guys! And hopefully you like this chapter too! Though it might feel like a filler chapter, believe me, it was needed. I hope to read you soon!

For those who left unsigned reviews, here are the answers:

Anon: I think you should make that account! So I can talk to you more often! (well, that is, in case you want to, of course) I´m happy to know that I could surprise you with the events, but I´m even happier to know that I could keep both of them in character! I don´t know about Lumina, though, in this chapter she might be a little too OOC, but the idea is, if she´s (MAYOR SPOILER) Lightning´s most shameful feelings, that means her feelings of fear and her childish tears are so part of Lumina´s character, right? So I hope you liked this chapter too!


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